A Piece of Company History: an Energy Company's Charity Auction
How a major North Sea energy company auctioned 72 lots of its own artwork and memorabilia to colleagues, raising £7,468 for Scotland's Charity Air Ambulance and CLAN Cancer Support without a penny passing through company accounts.
£7,468
Raised for two Scottish charities
72 lots
Of company artwork and memorabilia
£2,550
Fetched by the most sought-after lot
Not every fundraiser starts in a charity. This one started on the office walls of a major North Sea energy company: decades of commissioned artwork, platform photography and memorabilia from a long working history offshore. Rather than let it sit in storage, the company decided to auction it to colleagues and friends of the business, and give the proceeds to charity.
The Challenge
A company is not a charity, and corporate fundraising carries a legal wrinkle most businesses have never heard of: the moment you tell people the proceeds are going to charity, that money was never yours to hold. Add 72 lots, dozens of bidders, payment collection and winner notifications, and a well-meaning idea starts to look like a compliance and admin headache for somebody's day job.
The Solution
The company ran the whole auction through DONATE™ with a corporate account:
- A page for every lot. All 72 pieces listed with photos and their story, easy to browse and share internally.
- Bidding from anywhere. Colleagues bid from their phones, wherever they were based, with no cash or spreadsheets involved.
- Winners handled automatically. Winning bidders were notified and paid online by card, with nothing to chase.
- The money never touched company accounts. Donations were made to National Funding Scheme, itself a UK registered charity, and passed straight to the company's chosen causes. The commercial participator problem removed at the root.
- Two charities, one auction. Proceeds were split equally between Scotland's Charity Air Ambulance and CLAN Cancer Support, with the split handled by the platform rather than the finance team.
- One report at the end. Every lot, bid and payment in one place for the organisers.
The Result
Over two weeks in the summer of 2026, all 72 lots went under the virtual hammer, raising £7,468, with the most sought-after piece fetching £2,550. Staff took home a piece of their company's history, two charities shared the proceeds, and nobody in the finance team had to work out what to do with charity money in a company account.
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